Bible in 90 Days
The Prayer of Daniel
9 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which were specified by the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishment of the desolations of Jerusalem, that is, seventy years. 3 I set my face toward the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said,
“Alas, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping His covenant and mercy to those who love Him, and to those who keep His commandments. 5 We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and from Your judgments. 6 We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our officials, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 “O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day, to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, who are near and who are far off, through all the countries wherever You have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against You. 8 O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, to our officials, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Indeed, all Israel has transgressed Your law, even by departing that they might not obey Your voice.
“Therefore the curse has been poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. 12 He has confirmed His words, which He had spoken against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done such as has been done to Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, great calamity has come on us. Yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God so that we might turn from our iniquities and give attention to Your truth. 14 Therefore, the Lord has kept the disaster in store and brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which He does, but we have not obeyed His voice.
15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, even to this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I beseech You, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain, because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.
17 “Now therefore, O God, hear the prayer of Your servant and his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name, for we do not present our supplications before You for our righteousness, but for Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not defer, for Your own sake, O my God. For Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
The Seventy Weeks
20 While I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21 indeed, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 22 He informed me and talked with me, and said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore understand the matter and consider the vision:
24 “Seventy weeks have been determined for your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
25 “Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until the Prince Messiah shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the troops of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall come with a flood. And until the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”
Daniel’s Vision of a Man
10 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar, and the message was true and one of great conflict. And he understood the message and had understanding of the vision.
2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. 3 I ate no tasty food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all until three whole weeks were fulfilled.
4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river which is Tigris, 5 I lifted up my eyes and looked and saw a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with the fine gold of Uphaz. 6 His body also was like beryl, and his face had the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were like lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet were like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.
7 I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 8 Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, and my countenance grew deathly pale, and I retained no strength. 9 Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words, then I was in a deep sleep on my face with my face toward the ground.
Prophecies of Persia and Greece
10 But then a hand touched me, which set me on my knees and on the palms of my hands. 11 He said to me, “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have been sent to you now.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.
12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand this and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to make you understand what shall befall your people in the latter days. For the vision is yet for many days.”
15 When he had spoken such words to me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became mute. 16 Then one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, because of the vision, sorrows have come upon me, and I have retained no strength. 17 How can the servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? And as for me, there remains no strength in me now, nor is there any breath left in me.”
18 Then again, the one having the appearance of a man came and touched me, and he strengthened me. 19 He said, “O man, greatly beloved, do not fear. Peace be unto you. Be strong and courageous!”
When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
20 Then he said, “Do you understand why I have come to you? But now I shall return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, then truly the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I will show you what is inscribed in the Scripture of Truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces, except Michael your prince.
The Kings of the South and the North
11 “Also, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
2 “And now I will tell you the truth. Truly, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than all of them; and by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. 3 A mighty king shall stand up who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will. 4 When he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides them.
5 “The king of the South shall be strong, as well as one of his officials who shall be strong above him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. 6 In the end of some years they shall join themselves together. For the king’s daughter of the South shall come to the king of the North to make an agreement. But she shall not retain her position of power, and neither he nor his power shall stand. But she shall be given up with those who brought her and with him who fathered her and with him who strengthened her in those times.
7 “But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come with an army and shall enter the fortress of the king of the North and shall deal against them and shall prevail. 8 And he shall also carry captive into Egypt their gods, with their officials, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold. And he shall continue more years than the king of the North, 9 who will enter the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. 10 His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of armed forces. One shall advance like a flood and pass through, and again shall wage the war as far as his fortress.
11 “The king of the South shall be moved with rage, and shall go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall raise a great multitude; but that multitude shall be given into his enemy’s hand. 12 When he has taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands, but he shall not be strengthened by it. 13 For the king of the North shall return and shall raise a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much equipment.
14 “In those times many shall stand up against the king of the South. Also the robbers of your people shall exalt themselves to fulfill the vision, but they shall fall. 15 Then the king of the North shall come and set up a siege mound and capture a fortified city. And the forces of the South shall not withstand him; neither shall his chosen best troops have strength to resist. 16 But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the Pleasant Land, which shall be consumed by his hand. 17 He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he shall put into effect. And he shall give him the daughter of women to corrupt it. But she shall not stand on his side or be for him. 18 After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many. But a commander shall put a stop to his reproach against him, and he shall repay him for his reproach. 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but shall stumble and fall and not be found any more.
20 “Then one shall stand up in his place who shall send an oppressor in the glory of his kingdom. But within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle.
21 “In his place a vile person shall stand up, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom. But he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22 A flood of armies shall be swept away before him and be broken, and the prince of the covenant as well. 23 After the league is made with him, he shall work deceitfully, and he shall come up and shall become strong with a small force of people. 24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the richest places of the realm. And he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers. He shall distribute among them the plunder and spoil and riches. And he shall plan his devices against the strongholds, but only for a time.
25 “He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army. But he shall not stand, for schemes shall be devised against him. 26 Indeed, those who eat his choice food shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow, and many shall fall down slain. 27 As for both of these kings, their hearts shall plan on mischief, and they shall speak lies to one another at one table. But it shall not prosper, for the end shall yet be at the appointed time. 28 While turning back to his land with great wealth, his heart shall be against the holy covenant. He shall wage war and turn back to his own land.
Blasphemies of the Northern King
29 “At the appointed time he shall return and come into the south, but this latter time shall not be as the former. 30 For the ships of Kittim shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved and return and have indignation against the holy covenant and take action. He shall even return and show regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 “His armies shall rise up and desecrate the sanctuary fortress. They shall abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination that makes desolate. 32 By flatteries he will corrupt those who act wickedly toward the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and take action.
33 “The wise among the people shall instruct many. Yet for many days they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by destruction. 34 Now when they fall, they shall be given a little help. But many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 35 Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be purged, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it is still for the appointed time.
36 “The king shall do according to his will. And he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak blasphemous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper until the indignation is accomplished. For that which is determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above them all. 38 But instead he shall honor the god of forces, a god whom his fathers did not know. He shall honor him with gold and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall do in the strongest of fortresses with a foreign god. He shall give great honor to those who acknowledge him, and shall cause them to rule over the many and shall divide the land for gain.
Conquests of the Northern King
40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall push at him. But the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships. And he shall enter the countries and shall overflow them and pass over. 41 He shall enter also the Pleasant Land, and many countries shall be overthrown. But these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon. 42 Then he shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 But he shall have power over the hidden treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 44 But reports from the east and from the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 He shall pitch the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, and no one shall help him.
The Prophecy of the End Times
12 “And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who turn the many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. 6 One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the water of the river, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?”
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was over the water of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time.[a] And when they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
8 As for me, I heard, but I could not understand. So I said, “My lord, what shall be the result of these things?”
9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel. For these words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified and made white and tried. But the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
11 “From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
13 “But as for you, go your way until the end. Then you shall rest and rise again for your lot at the end of the age.”
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord first spoke by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: “Go, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry, departing from the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim as a wife. She conceived, and bore him a son.
4 The Lord said to him: “Call his name Jezreel,[b] for in a little while, I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and will bring to an end the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day, I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 Then Gomer conceived again, and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah,[c] for I will no longer have mercy upon the house of Israel but will utterly sweep them away. 7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by battle, or by horses, or by horsemen.”
8 When Gomer had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son. 9 Then the Lord said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi,[d] for you are not My people, and I am not your God.”
10 Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not My people,” there it will be said to them, “You are the children of the living God.” 11 Then will the Judahites and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
2 Say to your brothers, Ammi,[e] and to your sisters, Ruhamah.[f]
Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished
2 Plead with your mother, plead—
for she is not My wife,
and am I not her husband—
that she put away her harlotry from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts,
3 lest I strip her naked
and leave her as in the day that she was born,
and turn her into a wilderness,
and turn her into a dry land,
and kill her with thirst.
4 I will not have mercy upon her children,
for they are children of harlotry.
5 For their mother has played the whore.
She that conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will pursue my lovers,
who provide my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”
6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns,
and make a wall, so that she will not find her paths.
7 She will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
and she will seek them but will not find them.
Then she will say,
“I will go and return to my first husband,
for it was better for me then than now.”
8 But she did not know that it was I who provided her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and multiplied her silver and gold
that they used for Baal.
9 Therefore I will take back My grain in its time
and My wine in its season,
and I will recover My wool and My flax,
given to cover her nakedness.
10 Therefore I will uncover her shame
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will deliver her from My hand.
11 I will also bring to an end all her joy,
her annual feasts, her New Moons,
and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
12 I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
of which she has said, “These are my rewards that my lovers have given me.”
I will make them a forest,
and the beasts of the field will eat them.
13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals,
when she burned incense to them
and adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry,
and pursued her lovers,
but forgot Me,
declares the Lord.
God’s Mercy on Israel
14 Therefore, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 From there, I will give her vineyards to her,
and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
She will respond there as in the days of her youth,
and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 On that day, declares the Lord,
you will call Me, “My husband,”
and will no longer call Me, “My Baal.”[g]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
and they will no longer be remembered by their name.
18 On that day, I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, with the fowls of heaven,
and with the creeping things of the ground.
I will break the bow and the sword and the battle
from the earth,
and will make them to lie down safely.
19 I will take you for My wife forever.
I will take you for My wife in righteousness and in justice,
in mercy and in compassion.
20 I will take you for My wife in faithfulness,
and you will know the Lord.
21 On that day I will answer,
declares the Lord;
I will answer the heavens,
and they will answer the earth.
22 The earth will answer the grain,
the wine, and the oil;
and they will answer Jezreel.
23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth.
I will have mercy upon Lo-Ruhamah,
and I will say to Lo-Ammi, “You are My people,”
and they will say, “You are my God.”
Hosea Redeems His Wife
3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go, again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just as the Lord loves the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love raisin cakes.”
2 So I purchased her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and for a homer of barley, and a half homer of barley. 3 Then I said to her, “You will remain with me many days. You will not play the whore, and you will not belong to another man. And also I will be with you.”
4 For the children of Israel will remain many days without a king and without a prince, without a sacrifice and without a standing stone, and without an ephod and teraphim. 5 Afterward the children of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come in fear to the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days.
God Accuses Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a dispute
with the inhabitants of the land:
There is no truth or mercy,
and no knowledge of God in the land.
2 Swearing, lying, and killing,
and stealing and adultery
break out,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land dries up,
and everyone who lives in it withers
with the beasts of the field
and the birds of the sky;
even the fish of the sea disappear.
4 Yet let no one contend,
and let none reprove another,
for your people are like those
that contend with a priest.[h]
5 You will stumble in the day,
and the prophet also will stumble with you in the night,
and I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I will reject you from being My priest.
And because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I will also forget your children.
7 As they increased, so they sinned against Me.
I will change[i] their glory[j] into shame.
8 They feed upon the sin of My people,
and they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 It will be like people, like priest.
I will punish them for their ways
and reward them for their deeds.
10 They will eat, but not be satisfied;
they will play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
by devoting themselves to 11 harlotry;
wine and new wine
take away understanding.
The Idolatry of Israel
12 My people seek counsel from their wood,
and their staff informs them.
For the spirit of harlotry has led them astray,
and they have played the whore in defiance of their God.
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains,
and burn incense upon the hills
under oak, poplar, and elm
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters
when they play the whore,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery.
For the men separate themselves with whores,
and they sacrifice with cult prostitutes.
A people without understanding will come to ruin.
15 Though you play the whore, O Israel,
do not let Judah offend.
Do not come to Gilgal,
or go up to Beth Aven,
and do not swear, “As the Lord lives.”
16 Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn.
Now will the Lord feed them
like a lamb in a wide pasture?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
let him alone.
18 Their drink has soured,
they have played the whore continually.
Her rulers dearly love shame.
19 A wind has wrapped her in its wings,
and they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Judgment Against Israel and Judah
5 Hear this, O priests!
Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
For the judgment is for you,
because you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread over Tabor,
2 and a pit dug deep in Shittim;
but I will discipline them all.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from Me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore.
Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds do not allow them
to return to their God;
for a spirit of harlotry is in their midst,
and they do not know the Lord.
5 The pride of Israel testifies against him.
Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity.
Judah also stumbles with them.
6 With their flocks and their herds they will go
to seek the Lord,
but they will not find Him.
He has withdrawn from them.
7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord,
for they have given birth to illegitimate children.
Now the New Moon will devour them
along with their portion.
War, Wrath, and Repentance
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
and the trumpet in Ramah.
Cry aloud at Beth Aven,
“Look behind you, O Benjamin!”[k]
9 Ephraim will become desolate
in the day of punishment.
Among the tribes of Israel
I make known that which is sure.
10 The princes of Judah have become
like those who remove a boundary marker.
Upon them I will pour out
My wrath like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed
and broken in judgment,
because he eagerly followed after vanity.
12 Therefore I will be like pus to Ephraim
and like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah saw his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to King Jareb.[l]
Yet he cannot cure you
or heal your wound.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, Myself, will tear and go away.
I will carry off, and no one will rescue.
15 I will again return to My place
until they acknowledge their offense
and seek My face.
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.
A Call to Repentance
6 Come, let us return to the Lord,
for He has torn,
and He will heal us.
He has struck,
and He will bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us.
On the third day He will raise us up,
that we may live before Him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His appearance is as sure as the dawn.
He will come to us like the rain;
like the spring rains He will water the earth.
Impenitence of Israel and Judah
4 What shall I do to you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do to you, O Judah?
Your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
and like the early dew it goes away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets.
I have killed them by the words of My mouth,
and My[m] judgments go forth like light.
6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 But like men[n] they have transgressed the covenant.
There they dealt faithlessly with Me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
polluted with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for someone,
so a company of priests
murder on the way to Shechem.
They commit a shameful deed.
10 I have seen a horrible thing
in the house of Israel.
The harlotry of Ephraim is there;
Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,
when I restore the fortunes of My people.
7 When I would heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the wickedness of Samaria.
For they deal deceitfully;
the thief breaks in;
the robbers raid outside,
2 but they did not consider in their hearts
that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their own deeds surround them;
they are before My face.
Corrupt and Disloyal Politics
3 They make the king glad with their wickedness,
and the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
like an oven heated by a baker,
who ceases stirring the fire
after kneading the dough until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king the princes made him sick
from the heat of wine.
He stretched out his hand with scorners.
6 For they are kindled[o] like an oven.
Their heart burns within them;[p]
their anger smolders[q] all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 They are all hot as an oven,
and they devour their judges.
All their kings have fallen,
and none of them calls to Me.
8 Ephraim mixes himself with the people.
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 Foreigners devour his strength,
but he does not know it.
Gray hairs are here and there upon him,
but he does not know it.
10 The pride of Israel testifies against him,
but they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek Him for all this.
11 Ephraim is like a dove,
silly and without sense;
they call to Egypt,
they go to Assyria.
12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky;
I will discipline them according to
the report to their congregation.
13 Woe to them,
for they have fled from Me!
Destruction to them,
for they have rebelled against Me!
Though I would redeem them,
yet they speak lies against Me.
14 They do not cry to Me with their heart
when they howl on their beds.
They gather together for grain and wine,
they rebel against Me.
15 Though I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise mischief against Me.
16 They return, but not to the Most High.
They are like a loose bow.
Their princes will fall by the sword
for the rage of their tongue.
This will be their derision
in the land of Egypt.
The Apostasy of Israel
8 Set the trumpet to your mouth!
One like an eagle is on the house of the Lord,
because they have transgressed My covenant
and rebelled against My law.
2 Israel cries to Me,
“My God, we know You.”
3 Israel has cast off the good;
the enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings, but not through Me;
they made princes, but I did not know it.
With their silver and gold,
they made idols,
so that they will be cut off.
5 Your calf, O Samaria, is rejected!
My anger is kindled against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it,
and it is not God!
The calf of Samaria
will be broken to pieces.
7 For they sow the wind,
and they will reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no head
and will yield no flour.
If it were to yield,
foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up.
Now they are among the nations
as a vessel in which there is no pleasure.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey alone by itself;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire among the nations,
I will now gather them.
They will begin to diminish due to the burden
of the king of princes.
11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 I have written for him the great things of My law,
but they were regarded as a strange thing.
13 For the sacrifices of My offerings,
they sacrifice flesh and eat it;
but the Lord does not accept them.
Now He will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built temples,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it will devour his palaces.
The Punishment of Israel
9 Do not rejoice, O Israel!
Do not exult[r] like the peoples,
for you have played the whore departing from your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s wages
on every threshing floor.
2 The threshing floor and the winepress will not feed them,
and the new wine will fail in her.
3 They will not dwell in the land of the Lord;
but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and they will eat unclean things in Assyria.
4 They will not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
and their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners;
all who eat of it will be defiled.
For their bread will be only to satisfy their own hunger;
it will not come into the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the appointed day,
and on the day of the festival of the Lord?
6 For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
Egypt will gather them,
and Memphis will bury them.
Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver,
and thorns will be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come.
Israel knows!
The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is insane,
because of your great iniquity and great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim is a prophet
for my God;
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity,
He will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But they went to Baal Peor
and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame,
and they became an abomination like the thing they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird:
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Though they bring up their children,
I will bereave them until none are left.
Woe to them indeed,
when I depart from them!
13 Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place,
so now Ephraim will bring out
his children for slaughter.
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will You give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal,
for there I hated them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds,
I will drive them out of My house.
I will love them no more.
All their princes are rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up,
they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will slay the beloved offspring of their womb.
17 My God will reject them
because they did not listen to Him,
and they will be wanderers among the nations.
Israel’s Sin and Captivity
10 Israel is a fertile vine
that brings forth its fruit.
As his fruit multiplied,
so his altars increased;
as his land prospered,
so he[s] improved his pillars.
2 Their heart is divided;
now they must bear their guilt.
He will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.
3 For now they will say,
“We have no king,
because we do not fear the Lord;
and a king, what could he do for us?”
4 They speak mere words,
swearing falsely
in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up like a poisonous plant
in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria fear
because of the calf of Beth Aven.
For its people mourn for it,
and its priests shriek for it,
because its glory has departed from it.
6 It will be carried to Assyria
as a tribute to King Jareb.[t]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.[u]
7 As for Samaria, her king will perish
like a twig on the water.
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
will be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle will grow
on their altars.
They will say to the mountains, Cover us,
and to the hills, Fall on us.
9 O Israel, you have sinned since the days of Gibeah.
There they have continued.[v]
Will not the war in Gibeah against evildoers
overtake them?
10 When I desire, I will punish them.
The nations will be gathered against them
when they are disciplined[w] for their two transgressions.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh grain,
but I harnessed her fair neck;
I will make Ephraim pull a plow.
Judah will plow;
Jacob shall furrow for himself.
12 Sow to yourselves righteousness,
reap mercy,
break up your fallow ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
until He comes
and rains righteousness upon you.
13 You have plowed wickedness.
You have reaped iniquity,
and you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your power
and in the numbers of your warriors,
14 therefore a tumult will arise among your people,
and all your fortresses will be destroyed
as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle;
mothers were dashed to pieces upon their children.
15 So will it be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn
the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.
God’s Love for Israel
11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called My son.
2 As I[x] called them,
so they went from Me.[y]
They sacrificed to the Baals
and burned incense to idols.
3 I taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them up in My[z] arms,
but they did not know
that I healed them.
4 I drew them with cords of human kindness,[aa]
with bands of love.
I was to them as those who ease the yoke on their neck,[ab]
and I bent down and fed them.
5 He will return[ac] to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria will be his king,
because they refused to return to Me.
6 The sword slashes in their cities,
consumes their oracle-priests,
and devours because of their own counsels.
7 My people are bent on backsliding from Me.
Though they called to the Most High,
none at all exalt Him.
8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboyim?
My heart churns within Me;
My compassion is stirred.
9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
10 They will walk after the Lord,
who roars like a lion.
When He roars,
His children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling
like a bird out of Egypt
and like a dove from the land of Assyria.
And I will let them dwell in their houses,
says the Lord.
God’s Charge Against Ephraim
12 Ephraim has surrounded Me with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit.
But Judah still walks with God,
and is faithful to the Holy One.[ad]
12 Ephraim feeds on the wind
and chases after the east wind all day long.
He multiplies lies and devastation.
They make a covenant with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.
A History of Rebellion
2 The Lord has a dispute with Judah,
and will punish Jacob according to his ways,
and repay him according to his doings.
3 In the womb, he took his brother by the heel,
and by his strength he strove with God.
4 He struggled with the angel, and prevailed;
he wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in Bethel,
and there He spoke with us.
5 As for the Lord the God of Hosts,
the Lord is the name by which He is invoked!
6 But as for you, return to your God,
hold fast to mercy and justice,
and wait on your God continually.
7 A merchant, in whose hands are deceitful balances,
he loves to oppress.
8 Ephraim said,
“Yet I am rich, I have found wealth for myself.
In all my labors, they shall find no offense in me
that would be sin.”
9 I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt.
I will again make you to dwell in tents,
as in the days of the appointed feast.
10 I have spoken by the prophets,
and I have multiplied visions,
and through the prophets I will bring destruction.[ae]
11 In Gilead there is iniquity;
surely they will come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
so their altars will be like stone heaps
in the furrows of the fields.
12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
and Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he kept sheep.
13 By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was preserved.
14 Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly,
so his Lord shall leave his bloodguilt on him
and repay him for his reproach.
God’s Unrelenting Judgment on Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke, trembling,
he was exalted in Israel.
But he incurred guilt through Baal worship and he died.
2 And now they continue sinning
and have made a cast image for themselves,
idols of their silver, according to their understanding;
all of them the work of craftsmen.
They say of them,
“Those who sacrifice[af]
are kissing calves!”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning cloud,
or like the early dew that passes away,
like chaff blown off the threshing floor,
or like the smoke from a chimney.
4 Yet I am the Lord your God
ever since the land of Egypt.
You know no God but Me,
and there is no savior besides Me.
5 I knew[ag] you in the wilderness,
in the land of great drought.
6 When they had pasture, they were satisfied.
They were satisfied, and their heart was exalted;
therefore they forgot Me.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.